Bait
Page 6
When Gavin approached, she was contemplating her mess of a life from that same concrete bench. She still couldn’t believe the way Chloe had stomped off in a fit. This was one of those mornings she should have stayed in bed. For the second time she considered going home. Before she could make a definite decision on the matter Gavin plopped down next to her and intruded on her thoughts. “What are you going as?”
She blinked. “Huh?”
Her pretend-boyfriend smiled at her, his eyes a warm brown that enveloped her without warning. Dark hair spilled over his forehead. At least Van had supplied her with a ‘cute’ guy to hang out with. He was pre-approved so Connor didn’t have anything to say about it. Gavin was a hunter, and his job was to keep an eye on her. Not an easy task when you considered the way his wayward bangs obscured his view. He shoved them aside and said, “To the party, duh. What are you going to wear? You did buy a costume, right?”
Her mood flat-lined. “I don’t think I’m going.”
Gavin looked horrified. “You have to go.” He grasped her hand and held it tight. “If you don’t, I’ll be alone with immature boys who still think armpit farts are funny. Pretty girls will be hitting on me all night and I won’t be able to do anything about it because I’m under orders to be your boyfriend. Van ordered us to blend in with the other students, and this is our first party since moving to this podunk town. We don’t have a choice.”
His puppy-dog eyes were hard to resist. She dug her heels in, determined to stay home tonight. “I’m sorry, but Connor is on the warpath. He might not let me go.”
Blaming an adult for making you miss out on fun when you weren’t interested in said fun was a good way to get out of things. Besides, if he could throw in Van’s name to make her fold, she could use Connor to get out of it. Gavin couldn’t be mad at her for missing the party if her uncle made her stay home. The only problem was Connor shared Van’s point of view. He thought it might look weird if she ditched the stupid party since the school was hosting it and practically everyone would be there.
“Sneak out then,” Gavin said. His smile widened, drawing her in against her will. “I’ll bring a ladder to your window and help you climb down.”
“Hey, why don’t we watch Star Trek at your house tonight instead?”
Gavin was a major fan of the franchise, collecting DVDs of every episode of the series including the spin-offs, action figures, games, and so on. He even had a dog named Spock. His idea of a great evening was a marathon of shows, as many as he could get in before falling asleep, and he’d tried to get her to watch with him, but she hated science fiction almost as much as she hated lame parties.
He gaped at her. “You really don’t want to go to this thing, do you?”
She shrugged. “What do you think of this whole Tyler Beck mess?”
Gavin’s mouth tightened and his eyes darkened. “If you ask me, he got off easy. The guy should have gotten the chair for what he did. I’m certainly not going to cry over him.”
Bay-Lee impulsively hugged his neck. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
“If you like me so much, don’t make me go by myself tonight.”
She laughed. “Okay. I give up. I’ll be your date.”